Chiefs wary of DeMbare fans

BULAWAYO - Mochudi Centre Chiefs’ Zimbabwean defender Arnold Chaka admits he feels the pressure of returning to his motherland for tomorrow’s African Champions League tie against Dynamos, saying the club’s fans always give the team a major lift. Cauldron

The two teams clash in the first leg at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow with DeMbare highly favoured to take a significant lead going into next weekend’s second leg in Botswana.

In an interview with the Daily News from Gaborone yesterday, the Mochudi vice-captain predicted a tough encounter against the Glamour Boys but expressed confidence that they will give the reigning Castle Premiership champions a good run for their money. Plainspoken

“I know it’s going to be tough because of the wonderful support base. But we just have to play our game and see what happens, “Chaka, who earned a few Zimbabwe caps under Rahman Gumbo, said.

He, however, added that his team was not worried about Dynamos’ experience in the Champions League, as most of the new players are still learning the ropes.

DeMbare made history by becoming the first Zimbabwean team to reach the competition’s final in 1998, where they lost to ASEC Mimosa of Ivory Coast 4-2 on aggregate.

The Harare giants also reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2008 before losing 5-0 on aggregate to Cameroon’s Coton Sport Garoua.

Chaka’s Zimbabwean counterpart at Chiefs, Elvis Meleka, also shared the same sentiments.

“We are ready to face Dynamos and we have a good chance of winning,” said Meleka.

“Our league is already in progress so we have had a lot of game time than Dynamos and they are still working on new combinations since they brought in a number of new players.”

Chaka and Meleka are part of Chiefs travelling party for tomorrow’s match and their team is currently occupying second position in the beMobile Premiership.

The Botswana champions are expected to touch down at Harare International Airport at noon today before proceeding to the match venue to familiarise themselves with the playing surface.

The Botswana champions are hoping to score an away goal which will put Dynamos under considerable pressure in the return leg in Gaborone in a fortnight.

"I haven't seen Dynamos before, not even on a DVD and that is a problem. I only know that they had beaten Nico in a friendly game and they won the league championship in Zimbabwe,” Stanojlovic told the club’s official website yesterday.

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